Bangladesh garment collapse: one year later

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Onlookers gather around the Rana Plaza, the day after its collapse.

On April 24, 2013, an eight-story building collapsed in Savar, near the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, killing more than 1,100 people.

Rana Plaza, which housed five garment factories, had been designed with only six stories and intended for shops and offices only. Two further stories had been added, and the collapse was in part blamed on the weight and vibration of the garment factories’ heavy machinery.

This photo is part of an exhibition, curated by Munem Wasif and Mahbubur Rahman, dedicated to the lost garment workers of Bangladesh. "1134: Lives Not Numbers" will run until April 26th at the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Credit: Rahul Talukder/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Rana Plaza had been briefly shut down the day before, when cracks appeared in its walls and pillars, but factory workers had been called back in, hours before the building fell.

Rescue operations took nearly three weeks. Workers in Rana Plaza made clothes for popular Western brands.

The disaster highlighted the hazardous conditions workers face in Bangladesh’s $22 billion garment industry, where many are paid as little as $40 a month.

Credit: Rahul Talukder/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

A victim is pulled out of the rubble, April 27, 2013.

Only a few of the brands using the factories attended a meeting of the world’s largest retailers in Geneva, in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse, and four made contributions to a compensation fund for victims and their families.

Credit: Rahul Talukder/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Doctors from Anam Medical College care for a wounded person, April 24, 2013.

Credit: Suvra Kanti Das/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

The mother of Akahi Jamsing wails on the grave of her daughter, in Dhaka, Nov. 11, 2013.

Credit: Suvra Kanti Das/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Siraj Uddin, 40, and Majeda Khatun, 35, parents of the New Wave Style factory’s worker Shirin, 18, have found their beloved daughter's body in the morgue, 12 days after the collapse, May 5, 2013.

Credit: Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Victims lie in the rubble, on the day after the Rana Plaza building collapse, April 25, 2013.

The relationship between the two people is not known. In the days following the disaster, more than 800 bodies were visually identified by relatives, or by using ID cards or personal possessions.

Relatives of others had to give DNA samples, but months after the incident many had still not been able to identify missing family members. The collapse of the Rana Plaza ranks as one of the worst industrial accidents in history.

Credit: Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Poly Akhter's mother, Shahana, 38, grieves for her. Her other daughter, Dalia, also worked in the factory complex but did not go to work on the day of the collapse, June 1, 2013.

Credit: Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Bangladeshi garment worker Mariyam, 30, who worked on the 6th floor of Rana Plaza,with her sister at Enam Medical College, in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 19, 2013.

Mariyam had her right arm amputated to free her from the rubble when she was rescued nearly 72 hours after the building collapsed.

1134: Lives Not Numbers

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Bangladeshi garment worker Aroti, 16, who worked on the 5th floor of Rana Plaza, at Enam Medical College Hospital, Savar, Bangladesh.

Aroti had her right leg amputated when she was rescued from the rubble nearly 72 hours after the building collapsed, May 2, 2013.

Credit: Suvra Kanti Das/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Aroti in a wheel chair at her home, July 5, 2013.

Credit: Suvra Kanti Das/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Family photos of garment workers who were killed or went missing in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, collected by photographer and activist Taslima Akhter.

Credit: Collected by Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Family photos of garment workers who were killed or went missing in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, collected by photographer and activist Taslima Akhter.

Credit: Collected by Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Family photos of garment workers who were killed or went missing in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, collected by photographer and activist Taslima Akhter.

Credit: Collected by Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Family photos of garment workers who were killed or went missing in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, collected by photographer and activist Taslima Akhter.

Credit: Collected by Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Dalia, 18, worked at Rana Plaza with her sister, Poly Akhter, 17. Dalia decided not to go to work on the day of the collapse; her sister was worried that they might not get paid for the day's work, so she went. Eight days after the collapse, Poly’s body was found in the rubble, June 1, 2013.

Credit: Taslima Akhter/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

"God did not bless on us, that's why god has taken my daughter from me and still I have not found her trace," says Runa Rani Das, 35, mother of missing worker Shomapti Rani Das, Oct. 13, 2013.

Runa Rani along with her two daughters Shomapti, 18, and Preeti Rani Das were working at Rana Plaza. Somapti’s body was found and Runa is still missing.

Credit: Rahul Talukder/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Visitors at the opening of "1134: Lives Not Numbers" exhibition in Dhaka, April 22, 2014.

Credit: Farzana Hossen/Courtesy Pathshala

1134: Lives Not Numbers

Visitors to the exhibition react to the art work at the opening of "1134: Lives Not Numbers," April 22, 2014.